Bodies, Objects, and Rhetorical Assemblage in Social Justice Movements (2020) Directed by Dr
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MCCRARY, ANDREA, Ph.D. Making Protest Matter: Bodies, Objects, and Rhetorical Assemblage in Social Justice Movements (2020) Directed by Dr. Risa Applegarth. 223pp. Making Protest Matter: Bodies, Objects, and Rhetorical Assemblage in Social Justice Movements considers three historical social movements in the 20th century to examine the rhetorical power of body-object assemblage in protest moments. Focused on three cases in which marginalized people sought to resist long-standing cultural narratives and create lasting cultural change, this project traces the rhetorical effects of ephemeral embodied performance and protest objects used in concert. In considering the cases of women wearing ribbons during the suffrage movement in the U.S., black bodies raising fists in the 1960s and 1970s, and queer people adopting the rainbow icon during the gay liberation movement of the later decades of the 20th century, I demonstrate the influence of collectivities of bodies and objects, tracing their rhetorical power in the moment, their circulatory possibilities, and their long-standing durability as cultural change occurs. Drawing on new materialist scholarship, performance theories, and circulation studies, the analysis of ephemeral protest rhetoric in this project offers scholars in social movement studies and rhetoric models for examining how these assemblages support agency for people seeking cultural change. Given that protest and injustice continue to be with us, the study of these historical moments of protest offers a critical overview of how objects and bodies function together. MAKING PROTEST MATTER: BODIES, OBJECTS, AND RHETORICAL ASSEMBLAGE IN SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS by Andrea McCrary A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2020 Approved by Committee Chair APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by Andrea McCrary has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair____________________________________ Committee Members____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee _________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking my advisor, Dr. Risa Applegarth, for her constant guidance and encouragement. Her insightful comments on drafts of this project and her energetic support of my work have been vital. I also want to thank Dr. Nancy Myers and Dr. Stephen Yarbrough for their willingness to provide feedback and guidance throughout the project, both in writing and in conversation. The support offered by my committee throughout this project has enriched my work. I am also grateful to be surrounded by a group of colleagues and friends, at both UNCG and at Queens University of Charlotte, whose support has been critical to the completion of this work. I thank Carl Schlachte for his comments on drafts and his encouragement throughout the process. I also thank colleagues, Jennifer Smith Daniel and Diane Mowrey, along with many others, who have offered constant encouragement. Their willingness to talk about social justice and my research, their critical suggestions for my writing, and the essential teaching support they offered, helped me balance the work of writing this dissertation while teaching full time. I am grateful for my entire network of friends and colleagues for the community of encouragement we have built. Finally, I cannot adequately express my gratitude for my family. My husband, Adam Owensby, and my daughters Lillie and Zuri have provided me with the enduring love, support, and patience that sustained me through this project. I would never have undertaken this work without them, and they are the reason I was able to complete it. Their belief in me and in a better world is at the heart of this work. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: POWER TO THE PEOPLE ................................................... 1 Materialism, Performance, and Embodiment .............................................. 9 Rhetorical Durability and Circulation Studies ........................................... 13 Choosing Cases and a Lens ........................................................................ 15 Chapter Outlines ........................................................................................ 19 II. WEARING AS A FEMINIST RHETORICAL ACT: BODIES AND WEARABLE EPHEMERA ........................................................................... 24 What More Can We Learn from Suffrage? ................................................ 26 Gender, the Body, and Rhetoric ................................................................. 31 First-Wave Feminism and Visible Bodies ................................................. 40 Embodying Different Tactics: Tie a Yellow Ribbon ................................. 46 Sashes ......................................................................................................... 57 Rhetorical Implications of Wearing ........................................................... 58 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 72 III. FISTS AND FIGURES: PERFORMING BLACKNESS, CITIZENSHIP, AND RESISTANCE ......................................................................................... 76 Historical Context of Black Bodies in the U.S. ......................................... 77 Situating the Fist in Theory and History .................................................... 80 Raising Fists as Embodied Protest ............................................................. 90 The Fist Materialized, Circulated, and Reenacted ................................... 108 The Fist as Icon ........................................................................................ 114 The Fist and Memory ............................................................................... 119 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 126 IV. VISIBILITY AND PRIDE: BODIES ON PARADE ......................................... 132 Historicizing Cultural Beliefs about Homosexuality ............................... 138 Homophile Organizations and Activism .................................................. 146 Shifting Activist Ephemera and Events ................................................... 151 Pride and the Rise of the Rainbow ........................................................... 157 iv Rhetorical Resonances and Risks ............................................................ 173 V. CONCLUSIONS AND POSSIBILITIES .......................................................... 183 Ephemeral Objects Support Agency and Exert Rhetorical Force ............ 185 Circulation Extends Time ........................................................................ 187 Rhetorical Assemblage Creates Benefits and Risks for Social Movements .......................................................................................... 190 Implications and Possibilities for Future Work ....................................... 192 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 196 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Kansas Amendment Ribbon, 1894 ..................................................................... 51 Figure 2. Woman Suffrage Ribbons from Various State Conventions and Organizations ................................................................................................ 56 Figure 3. Votes for Women Sash, ca 1910 ........................................................................ 58 Figure 4. 1869 Brooklyn Woman Suffrage Association Ribbon ....................................... 61 Figure 5. Marchers at the 1913 Suffrage Parade ................................................................ 63 Figure 6. Collection of Political Cartoons about the 1913 March to Washington ............. 67 Figure 7. Benjamin Dale Photo of the Official Program for the 1913 D.C. March ........... 69 Figure 8. Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympic Games ........................... 96 Figure 9. Angry Black Athlete Cover of Newsweek, July 1968 ........................................ 98 Figure 10. Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes from Esquire, 1971 ................. 111 Figure 11. Black Power Buttons ...................................................................................... 115 Figure 12. Afro Comb with Fist Design .......................................................................... 116 Figure 13. Vietnam Tour Jacket ....................................................................................... 117 Figure 14. Image of Bridge (2014) by Glen Kaino .......................................................... 121 Figure 15. Detail from Bridge, by Glen Kaino ................................................................ 122 Figure 16. Photograph by Author of NMAAHC Olympic Exhibit, June 2019 ............... 123 Figure 17. Donald Trump on Time Magazine, January 30, 2017 .................................... 128 Figure 18. Image Results from a Google Search of "Pride